Adjunct therapy of Ayurvedic medicine with anti tubercular drugs on the therapeutic management of pulmonary tuberculosis

摘要

Background:Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is an age old disease described in Vedic Medicine as ‘Yakshma’. Later on, in Ayurveda it earned a prefix and found way into mythology as ‘Rajayakshma’. After the discovery of streptomycin, the therapeutic management of PTB received a major breakthrough. The treatment module changed remarkably with the formulation of newer anti-tubercular drugs (ATD) with appreciable success. Recent resurgence of PTB in developed countries like United States posed a threat to the medical community due to resistant strains. Consequently, WHO looked toward traditional medicine. Literature reveals that Ayurvedic treatment of PTB was in vogue in India before the introduction of ATD with limited success. Records show that 2766 patients of PTB were treated with Ayurvedic drugs in a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata in the year 1933-1947.